Focus Stacking Questions

Andy...you stack by starting from the lowest in-focus area and moving to the highest in-focus area (or vice versa, high to low). Sometimes this will be left to right if there is a general tilt, but if the coin is flat it usually goes from lowest field areas to highest device areas.

f8 is too small for getting a sharp stack. I'd recommend f5.6 for the Tominon.

It also looks like you need to optimize the lights to give better shadow detail on the RPM you're trying to capture. Lighting is super important to bring out the details. If the lights make the RPM disappear, then it will be hard to capture.

Finally, you might consider adding a 2x teleconverter to magnify the image even further. No need to show the full date if what you want to focus on is the small area of the mintmark. So:

- larger aperture f5.6
- optimize your lights to show the RPM best
- maybe try a teleconverter to zoom-in closer